


stepping forward

by SmoshArrowverseFan



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Dangan Ronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc
Genre: F/F, F/M, Found Family, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Multi, Post-Canon, Underage Drinking, also if u wanted u could probably read the aoi/makoto as romantic, also im pretty sure this is canon compliant but also i just read a summary of udg so maybe not lol, also there is very minor past ishimondo and leosaya but it's barely there, and the aoi/toko and naegami are a little ambigious lmao, as are komaru and yuta, everyone who died is mentioned, just a lil, the sakuraoi and celesgiri are in the past, they are Family okay??
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-20
Updated: 2020-12-20
Packaged: 2021-03-10 21:34:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 17,293
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28184001
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SmoshArrowverseFan/pseuds/SmoshArrowverseFan
Summary: The six of them went through hell and came out the other end united, and together, they were going to fix the world. Makoto promises himself that. He promises his friends, living and dead, his family, still missing. All of the people who watched the killing game, unable to help. He promises the world itself that he will bring back hope. With that thought, the six of them take their first steps toward the future. Together.-they are hurt, but they are healing. together.
Relationships: Asahina Aoi & Fukawa Touko & Hagakure Yasuhiro & Kirigiri Kyouko & Naegi Makoto & Togami Byakuya, Asahina Aoi & Naegi Makoto, Asahina Aoi/Fukawa Touko, Asahina Aoi/Kirigiri Kyoko, Asahina Aoi/Ogami Sakura, Fukawa Toko & Hagakure Yasuhiro, Kirigiri Kyoko/Celestia Ludenberg, Kirigiri Kyoko/Naegi Makoto, Naegi Makoto/Togami Byakuya
Comments: 17
Kudos: 71





	stepping forward

**Author's Note:**

> a month ago, i watched a video of an emoji with a mullet, and it lead me down a rabbithole that had me doing nothing but playing these games in my free time. anyway these dumbass kids own me now. so take this, the product of my newest obsession safdkaljfsl
> 
> also, like i said in the tags, some of the relationships can be read as platonic or romantic. the past stuff is pretty explicitly romantic, as is the naegiri and kirihina. hiro's relationships with the others are strictly platonic, as is toko and byakuya's relationship. but aside from that, you can read into their relationships however you want :)
> 
> anyway yea!! i hope you enjoy this :)

In the moments before the door opens completely, revealing the outside world and all of its ugly truth, the light blinds him almost completely. Even after the truth was revealed at the final trial, despite what he’d said about accepting whatever world they were walking into, Makoto held onto this tiny shred of hope that everything Junko had said was a lie. The footage they were shown had all been doctored, and Junko had woven a horrible story in a last ditch effort to keep them all trapped in the school.

He remembers a conversation he’d had with Kyoko, once, not too long ago. Two weeks? Three, maybe? They’d been trapped in the school for less than a month, and yet it felt so much longer. They were talking about logic puzzles, like they did often. Makoto wasn’t good at them at all, especially at first. Celeste, who would occasionally sit in on their discussions while she drank her tea, would point out that he always came at problems from the same angle. She told him once that it was something called mental set. People are prone to coming at a solution by using the easiest method they could think of.

Kyoko had nodded, and added that it was often a combination of mental set and confirmation bias that left the average person from finding the best solution. They got stuck on the easy method, and the solution they wanted to see, and had to train themselves to see things differently before solving a problem properly.

Maybe that was why it took them so long to get out. Maybe that was why it took them so long to figure out what they were getting out to. And maybe, it was why Makoto still didn’t want to believe that they were heading out into a world that was just as broken and messed up as the one they’d just escaped.

After that exchange, Makoto remembers, Celeste had given Kyoko that little half smile she often did. She was hard to read, at least for Makoto, and he doesn’t think he ever understood her, really. But that smile was one of the few that he thought was even a little genuine, looking back. She had turned to Kyoko and told her that they should play a game of cards sometime, before getting up and leaving her empty teacup.

They’d sent her to a fiery death four days later.

That hadn’t been the reason Makoto recalled that memory, though. During that discussion, Kyoko had brought up the thought experiment of Schrodinger's cat. That if you put a cat in a box, until you open it, you can’t be sure whether the cat is alive or dead. Because of that, it’s both alive and dead at the same time.

At the time, Makoto thought that it was kind of morbid and a little ridiculous. He’d jokingly mentioned that the cat would probably make some noise, and Kyoko had looked at him fondly and let out an amused sigh before moving onto the next logic puzzle.

It wasn’t so funny now, as the light shone brightly in his eyes. For just a few seconds, the outside world was both alive and dead, in a way. And then, it wasn’t.

Would Schrodinger have regretted opening the box to see a dead cat, Makoto wondered idly as he stared out at the destroyed landscape in front of them. The sky was red- honest-to-god, red, like in some gritty post-apocalyptic action movie- and he could see piles of rubble nearby.

Unsurprisingly, Kyoko is the first to speak. “We need to get moving. It isn’t safe here, especially since our location was being broadcast. We should… find somewhere to stay, at least for the night.”

It takes a moment for them to recover, but they’re all agreeing with her.

“Yeah,” Aoi adds, her voice shaky in a way that’s familiar to all of them at this point. “Preferably somewhere with a stocked pantry. And supplies to make those donuts.”

Makoto took a deep breath, remembering what they’d all just said about hope. There had to be some out there, right? He grinned and turned to the others. “Let’s get moving, yeah? My house isn’t too far from here, so I know the area pretty well. I should be able to find us someplace to stay.”

Hiro shot him a grin. “Great! Make sure we get someplace nice, with soft beds, alright? I’ve been missing my memory foam mattress so bad…”

Byakuya rolls his eyes. “All this, and you’re concerned about _memory foam_?”

Kyoko frowns. “Does it matter? Let’s hurry up and go.”

Makoto is the one to take the first step outside. When his feet touch down on the dirt, and the air on his skin is fresh (or, as fresh as it can be), he can’t help from laughing a little bit. Toko glances at him.

“Wh-what’s so funny?” She asks. Makoto shakes his head.

“Nothing, it’s just… even with all of this… it feels nice to be outside, doesn’t it?”

She frowns, moving to stand next to him as well. “Yeah, I g-guess it does.”

Despite her tone, Makoto glances over and sees she’s smiling a little, too. The others have all taken their first steps outside as well, and are wearing similar expressions of awe. It’s all a little bittersweet, but even so, they survived. They made it out. And despite what Enoshima said, they were going to keep living. They had to.

“Whoo!” Hiro whoops loudly, jumping around wildly. Makoto and Aoi laugh, and Kyoko smiles fondly. Even Byakuya, who’s rolling his eyes, and Toko, who is decidedly ignoring Hiro making a fool of himself, look a little less heavy, somehow.

“We made it!” Aoi shouts, joining in with Hiro’s cheering. Makoto’s grin widens. “Yeah, we did!” He turns to Kyoko and reaches out a hand for a high five. He’s caught her off guard for a moment, but she reaches out and slaps his palm with hers. He looks up and she’s smiling at him again, that real, genuine smile he’s seen a handful of times before, but always appreciates.

“You did it, Makoto,” She says to him.

“We did it,” He corrects her.

She pauses again, before nodding. “Yeah. We did. I didn’t mean it like that. I guess… you rubbed off on me a lot, you know? I don’t know that I would have been able to make it out without the things you did for me, and the things you taught me. So… thank you.”

Makoto pauses before replying. “You too, Kyoko. I mean, you taught me so much. About detective work, about logic… without you guiding me through that first investigation, we probably all would have died then. And after that… I relied on you a lot. Maybe more than you noticed, although you are you, so I’m sure you did notice, actually.”

Kyoko’s smile intensifies slightly. “I relied on you, too, Makoto.”

Makoto nods. “Yeah. I think we make a pretty good team.”

Byakuya, who’s standing off to the side with Toko, a few feet away but steadily inching closer, bear twin expressions of second-hand embarrassment as they watch Hiro and Aoi, who continue to jump around in circles.

“Let’s go already. We’ve wasted enough time here as it is,” Byakuya says, “Makoto, you said you knew the area?”

Makoto nods. “Oh, um, yeah. I guess I’ll lead the way, then,” He says, and with one last cursory glance behind them, at the building which had brought them so much pain and hurt that they’d likely carry with them for years to come. Still, it wasn’t all bad. He’s glad he met everyone. He figures they’ll carry each other, and everyone they’ve lost with them forever, too.

The six of them went through hell and came out the other end united, and together, they were going to fix the world. Makoto promises himself that. He promises his friends, living and dead, his family, still missing. All of the people who watched the killing game, unable to help. He promises the world itself that he will bring back hope. With that thought, the six of them take their first steps toward the future. Together.

* * *

Hiro’s good at finding stuff. He used to go dumpster diving as a teenager, just for fun, to see what he could find. You never know what sort of powerful artifacts or just plain cool junk people throw away because they think it’s worthless. Hiro’s pretty good at finding the worth in just about everything, if he does say so himself.

It’s part of what makes him such a good businessman, after all. Since he sees everything as having more worth than the average person, he’s pretty good at convincing other people of its worth as well. Sure, he’s heard the way people dismiss fortune telling, but he _knows_ it’s real, the same way he knows that aliens are real. He’s experienced it for himself, so it’s pretty easy to convince other people from his own experiences.

Of course, that doesn’t mean he’s good at holding onto that money. It comes as easily as it goes.

Plus, most people just like him when they first meet him. He’s a friendly guy. Sure, sometimes that wears off after he’s cleared them out of most of their money, and it’s led to a fair handful of death threats and potential lawsuits and crap, but whatever. Not that any of that really matters anymore, yeah?

Which brings him to how he’s digging through a dumpster behind what used to be an old cafe, while Byakuya stands behind him, arms crossed. The guy’s barely even disguising his expression of disgust. Hiro’s not really sure why. He’s the one in the dumpster, after all.

“This could be… and this… no, this is just a wrapper, so- well, actually…” Hiro mumbles to himself as he sorts through the discarded items. There’s a lot of rotten food, which he’s definitely going to want to wash off later, and more than a few disturbingly bloody pieces of clothing? He’s also pretty sure there’s a dead raccoon in the corner, so he’s not touching that.

Still, he’s found a handful of semi-useful things so far that he’s set aside. A pair of gloves- worn, but probably easy to repair. They’re thick and warm, suitable for cold weather. Aoi’s always complaining that her hands are cold, so maybe she’ll want them. There’s also a nice pen, which Toko might want. She probably won’t complain too much about it being from the trash, judging by her hygiene.

He also found a nice watch that Byakuya might have liked, but the fact that it came from the dumpster meant that he would absolutely decline it on principle if Hiro offered. Maybe he’d just keep it for himself. Or he could offer it to Kyoko. She might like that.

The last thing he managed to find was a tiny pocket flashlight. They were definitely keeping that, for sure. It was weirdly gloomy outside all the time now. Did Enoshima pollute the air somehow? He wouldn’t put it past her. Hiro would give almost anything for a nice, sunny day on the beach, sipping some pineapple juice or something.

Man, he missed pineapple juice.

“Are you done digging through the garbage yet?” Byakuya asks, clearly disgusted. Hiro nods, hoisting himself out of the dumpster with a grunt. He doesn’t miss the way Byakuya’s nose wrinkles as he takes several steps away from him. Eh, he doesn’t blame the guy. He does smell like garbage.

“Yeah, all good. Didn’t find too much in there, not like I was expecting too. This whole city’s pretty much done for.”

Byakuya nods. “I agree. After all, this was essentially ground zero, apparently. We should keep moving soon, and put as much distance between ourselves and this place as possible. The further we get, the more likely some semblance of civilization is still standing.”

“You said it, man! Let’s go check in with Makoto and everyone, see if they found anything good, yeah?” He doesn’t wait for a response before heading for their agreed upon meeting place, the house they’d spent the previous night in.

When they get there, Makoto and Toko are already waiting. They’d gone to a nearby convenience store, and although they didn’t seem to have found too much, they had a relatively sizable pile of food and stuff on the table. Although, as Hiro looks closer, a lot of it seems to be just packs of gum and mints. Not exactly something they can all live off of, but whatever. They’ll find more soon, he’s sure of it.

“That’s all you got?” Byakuya questions, apparently much less satisfied than Hiro is.

Makoto nods. “Yeah, it was pretty cleared out when we got there. Toko made a good find, though. There were a couple packages of instant ramen that had been kicked under the shelves.”

Byakuya nods. “Very well. Hopefully, the other two had better luck.”

The other two in question, Kyoko and Aoi, had been sent to the location farthest from their meeting place, a local grocery store. They enter a few minutes later, carrying a decent amount of food and supplies with them. Hiro notices with a feeling of relief that they’re carrying more actual food. So they won’t have to live off of gum.

“Great job, guys,” Makoto speaks as they drop their supplies on the table with the rest. Byakuya frowns.

“Tell me again why you all went to grocery stores for supplies, and we were stuck digging through the garbage?” He asks. Aoi glances at him, confused.

“Um, it looks like Hiro was the only one who actually dug through any garbage…”

Byakuya pointedly ignores her, looking only to Makoto, who sighs. “I figured you might find something useful or informative, I guess.”

Hiro perks up. “And we did!” He whips out his finds. “Okay, so these gloves are a little messed up, but if we wash them and sew them, they’ll be good! And, uhh… here. This is a nice pen, so I figured you’d want it, Toko. You can totally have it, free of charge!” He says, tossing it over to the startled girl in question, who fumbles but manages to catch it.

“Why would you make her pay for it, you got it from the garbage?” Aoi mumbles. Hiro grins.

“Exactly, which is why I’m not gonna make her pay for it! Anyway, Kyoko, this watch is pretty nice, and it still works. You want it?” He asks. Kyoko pauses, her expression unreadable, before nodding.

“Alright. Thanks, Hiro.”

“No problem,” He grins, handing it over, before turning to Aoi. “I figured you’d want the gloves once they’re fixed up. You keep complaining about how cold your hands are.”

Aoi smiles at him. “Really? Thanks, Hiro. That’s sweet.”

Byakuya coughs next to them. “If we’re done handing out garbage, can we discuss the situation we’re in? This,” He gestures towards the food piled on the table. “isn’t going to last us. Not to mention, we’re essentially in a disaster zone. And if what Enoshima said is to be believed, and we really were being broadcast to the world, we may attract some unwanted attention now that we’ve escaped. We need to keep moving.”

Makoto nods. He looks determined, if not a bit troubled. Hiro figures it makes sense he’d be a bit lost. The kid had found himself in the role of leader in their little group, in spite of more wild or powerful personalities like Byakuya and Toko. Even if they wouldn’t all admit it, Makoto was in charge. Which was good, obviously, since he was the one to get them all out. But, still. It was a lot of responsibility in a shitty situation, Hiro figured.

“You’re right,” the boy in question says after a moment. “Okay. My… my house is pretty close by. We can stay there for tonight. Tomorrow, we’re going to spend the day walking. We should have enough supplies to last us for a while, at least, so we shouldn’t have to scavenge again.”

Kyoko nods. “Sounds good to me. We should move soon, then.”

Everyone seems to agree with that. Hiro hopes it isn’t too long of a walk.

* * *

It’s a ways from the house they were staying in to Makoto’s own home. His stomach twists and churns as they approach. The buildings around him get increasingly familiar, although they’re significantly more broken than he remembers them being. There’s graffiti everywhere, trash and rubble in the streets… Makoto has a hard time reconciling this scenery with the neighborhood he grew up in.

Still, as he nears his childhood home, as they turn the corner onto his block, he still expects it to look the same. He expects Komaru to rush out and give him a giant hug, expects his parents to be waiting fondly in the doorway.

They’re not.

He knew they wouldn’t be there. Still, it hurts.

He tries his best not to let his sadness show, focusing instead on their goal. He starts when he feels someone take his hand, and looks up to see Kyoko smiling softly at him as she squeezes his hand. It’s an unspoken promise that she’s with him no matter what. He smiles back at her.

“This is it,” He says, voice a little more unsteady than he would have liked. All in all, the house is… well, the living room’s got a bit of a hole in it, which they step through one at a time, but aside from that, it looks… mostly undisturbed.

“So, this is your house…” Aoi says absently, taking it in.

“I wonder if I’ve ever been here before,” Hiro frowns as he heads into the kitchen. Makoto glances around, taking a breath before heading up the stairs towards his room. He senses Kyoko a few steps behind him, but doesn’t say anything.

He passes his parents’ bedroom, and then Komaru’s. The upstairs hasn’t really been touched, it doesn’t look like. He notices that the carpet laid down on the floor is different. They must have changed that at some point.

He stands outside the door to his bedroom, taking a deep breath before pushing it open and stepping inside.

A lot of it looks the way he left it. His bedsheets are the same, forest green and soft. There’s dust gathering on top of them.

On his nightstand is the same nightlight, as well as a small stack of books that he doesn’t remember reading. There’s a little framed picture of his family, which he picks up gently, almost as if he’s afraid it might disintegrate in his hands. He remembers the day it was taken- a trip to a local amusement park they’d taken to celebrate Makoto’s birthday.

He pulls the picture out of its frame and slips it into his pocket.

Glancing over at his desk, where he remembers looking up his classmates the night before arriving at Hope’s Peak, he notices that things have been rearranged. There’s a third place trophy for some sort of talent contest- he wonders how he won it. His computer is also new, but it won’t turn on. There are some papers scattered over the desk, but upon glancing at them, he realizes they’re just schoolwork.

What really catches him off guard, though, is above his desk. It’s a large bulletin board, in place of where he used to have posters for a couple movies he’d enjoyed. Kyoko is staring at it too, and Makoto quickly sees why.

“These are…” He trails off.

“Pictures of all of us,” Kyoko says, more softly than he’d ever heard her before.

A couple stand out. There’s one of himself, Kyoko, Sayaka, and Leon. Leon’s in the middle, grinning widely. One arm is slung around Makoto’s shoulder, and the other around Sayaka’s waist. Sayaka is smiling too, that same smile that had made Makoto’s heart flutter just weeks earlier. Now it just makes him feel heavy.

Makoto’s smile in the photo is a little awkward, but he can tell he was happy. The Kyoko in the photo is standing a few inches from Makoto, a little bit separate, but she’s smiling too, just a little.

Another picture that stands out is one of Mondo, Chihiro, and Kiyotaka. All three are smiling so brightly in the photo, Chihiro perched on Mondo’s shoulders, and Kiyotaka leaning into Mondo’s side. In the background, Makoto notices Hiro and Leon appear to be wrestling or something. Makoto smiles, and it’s bittersweet.

There’s more. Aoi and Sakura holding hands on a picnic blanket with Chihiro, Kiyotaka, and Celeste. Hifumi, Makoto, Kyoko, and Toko at a huge bookstore. Leon, Hiro, Mondo, and Kiyotaka panicking just as their kayak tipped over. Celeste, Kyoko, and Sakura smiling together. A group picture of all of them after some sort of sporting event. Byakuya rolling his eyes at Toko. Sakura giving Aoi a piggyback ride, while Leon tried (and failed) to do the same with Sayaka. Toko, Sayaka, Leon, Celeste, and himself playing board games. Hiro and Leon photobombing in increasingly ridiculous ways.

And Junko. She and Mukuro were in some of the pictures too. Makoto had to look away from those.

“I…” Makoto trailed off. Kyoko reaches out for one of the pictures gently. It’s of herself and Celeste, both smiling. Celeste is laughing, eyes closed, mouth wide open. Makoto doesn’t ever remember seeing her laugh like that.

Kyoko is smiling in the picture, and it’s her real smile. The one she’s shown him more and more lately.

“Do you… want to keep that one?” Makoto asks. Kyoko pauses, before shaking her head.

“No,” She says. “I don’t even remember taking it.” Her eyes linger on it for a moment, before she turns to Makoto. “I’m going to head back downstairs.”

She turns and does so without another word. Makoto looks away from the door Kyoko had just left through and back toward the bulletin board. He sighs, before pulling the pushpins out of a few of the photos and putting them in a small pile.

There are a lot of Sayaka and Leon. Makoto wonders for a moment… but then realizes the implications of that thought and winces inadvertently.

There are a few photos of himself with people he doesn’t recognize. Upperclassmen, maybe? He doesn’t save those. No use in keeping them with him. He slides them behind his computer, though. Even if he doesn’t remember the people in them, he wants the photos to be safe. They’re his lost memories, after all.

He takes at least one photo of each of his classmates, except for Junko. He doesn’t need a reminder of her. He does take every picture of Aoi and Sakura, since he’s pretty sure she’ll want to keep those. He picks up the photo of Toko and Byakuya, since she’ll probably like that, too. Finally, he takes the picture of Celeste and Kyoko that the detective had looked at before she’d left. Maybe she didn’t want it now, but he would keep it in case she wanted it later.

“Makoto!” Byakuya called from downstairs. “Get down here! You’re helping Asahina make dinner!”

“Coming!” He called, gathering the photos and putting them in his jacket pocket before hurrying down the stairs to join his friends.

* * *

Kyoko can’t sleep.

She hasn’t slept well since… honestly, she can’t remember the last time she got a full night of sleep. But tonight, on the floor of Makoto’s family’s guest bedroom in between Aoi and Makoto, hearing Toko snoring loudly nearby, she feels more awake than she has in a while.

Maybe it’s something to do with the photos.

She knew, on some level, that she must have been friendly with some of the other students. They were all friends, once. She wonders what they were all like, before Enoshima made it her goal to make them feel as much despair as possible.

Celeste looked happier, at least. In the pictures. There were a few where her hair was natural, and her clothes casual. The thought stirs something in Kyoko that she doesn’t want to think about.

They’re not getting their memories back, she figures. So there’s no use thinking about the people they were. There’s no use.

She thinks about it anyway.

It’s not hard to figure out the relationships they all must have had. Maizono and Kuwata were definitely together, once upon a time. Kuwata and Hiro also appeared to be close friends. Kyoko could definitely imagine the two of them messing with people together.

Fujisaki, Oowada, and Ishimaru seemed to have formed their own group as well. Remembering Oowada and Ishimaru’s interactions during the killing game, after they’d only known each other for a couple of weeks, Kyoko is pretty sure that the pair were something more than friends before.

Sakura and Aoi, too, seemed to have been together before they’d lost their memories. She wonders idly if that would be a comfort to the other girl, or if it would just hurt her more. To know that she had lost even more than she’d first imagined.

Kyoko frowns and shifts in the sleeping bag Makoto had pulled out of the closet for her. She reaches into her pocket and toys with the plain silver ring that Celeste had given her the day before her execution. It presses into her gloved palm, cool and hard.

There’s no use thinking about it.

* * *

Jack blinks. She’s faced with a small pool of blood on the ground, dripping down from someone’s leg. Huh.

“Soooo… what’d I walk in on?” She asks, cackling. In front of her, the bimbo was bandaging the even dumber one’s wound.

“Hiro scraped his leg on that wire over there,” The dumb one says simply, pointing at an exposed wire. Jack nods.

“Alrighty…” She laughed again, swinging her legs back and forth easily. She was perched up on a wall that’s half destroyed. She has to say, she appreciates the change of scenery from the school. It was getting stuffy in there.

She hums idly to herself, noting that the bimbo is clearly growing annoyed with her. Good. She lives to serve, after all. And by serve, she means annoy the shit out of annoying shits.

“What are we doing out here, hm?” She asks. Weed hair answers her, wincing slightly.

“Scavenging. It’s been, like, three days since we left Makoto’s place, and we’re running low on food.”

Jack nods, still humming to herself. “Gotcha. Well, I’ll leave you two to it. I’ve got a few things to take care of.”

Before either of them could stop her, Jack’s leaping off the wall with a cackle, going off on her own. She’ll be back at some point, but there was no use sitting around when she could be doing something fun. Who knows? Maybe she’ll come across a cute guy to stab. It doesn’t look like there are many people around, but she has always been a bit of a romantic.

She checks her pockets and confirms that her scissors are still there, before turning a corner. There, she comes face to face with the boring detective herself. Jack lets out a cackle.

“Hiii! I betcha missed me a lot, didn’t you?” She asks. The detective looks extremely tired.

“If you’re looking for Togami, he’s just around the corner.”

Jack weighs her options. She could go after Master, of course, but the idea of bothering the detective is enticing. She can split her time, she figures.

“Who says I’m looking for Master? Maybe I was looking for you!” Jack says, cackling before the detective can respond. “Just messing with you! I don’t swing that way.” She winks at the detective, who rolls her eyes.

“What a shame,” The detective says. Ooh, she’s snarky today.

“What’s wrong? Did you and your boy toy Mahkyutie get into a fight or something? Need me to stab him for ya? I do abide by the girl code, of course,” She pokes. The detective disregards her.

“I think I’ll pass.”

Jack huffs. “You’re no fun, Koko.”

The detective frowns at the nickname, but doesn’t comment on it. Merely, inspecting the building next to her intently. Jack glances over, but doesn’t see anything of note. Well, she figures the detective’s finished with her now. Time to go find Master.

“Byeee!” She says in a singsong, skipping around the corner to find Master. She doesn’t see him at first, only noticing movement in a nearby shop window. It’s a bakery, Jack notices. She didn’t take Master as someone who really liked baked goods, but she figures they take what they can get at this point.

She pushes the door open, and the bell above her head jingles, alerting Master to her presence. He’s so handsome when he gets all startled like that, she thinks.

“Master! I bet you missed me,” She grins, skipping over to him. He sighs heavily, and Jack finds herself leaning in.

“Good God, and I was just getting used to you not showing up,” He says. She cackles.

“I knew you missed me! Anyways, what’re you doing back there?” Jack asks. Master frowns.

“I just… I found some raw ingredients. Figured we could use them for something,” He says, but there’s something in his voice that makes her think that that’s not all. Jack’s not exactly the type of girl to hang up on a person’s exact tone, but she can tell that there’s something more on Master’s mind.

“Okay, and?” She pushes.

“And what?” He asks sternly.

“You know what,” Jack draws out her words intentionally. Master sighs again.

“...Aoi hasn’t shut up about finding donuts since we left the school, and I think I found the supplies for her to make them, but I know that if I give them to her, Naegi’s going to give me that look.”

Jack leaned forward eagerly. “Ohohoho, _that_ look! I know exactly what you mean. I’ve been hoping I’d get to see some boy-on-boy a-”

“Not- not that kind of look!” Master sputters, and Jack merely cackles in response. “I mean, the look that he gives me when he feels like he understands me. He’s going to think I did it because I care about Asahina.”

Jack hops up onto the counter and swings her legs over. “Well? Do you care about that bimbo?”

Master frowns, looking away. “...No.”

Jack laughs again. “Oh, you totally do! Am I gonna have to kill her?”

Master rolls his eyes. “I happened to find the supplies. We’re low on food, and it’ll get her to stop going on long-winded monologues about donuts.”

“I kinda doubt that’ll get her to stop.”

Master pauses. “That is… most likely correct. Still. It just… it drives me crazy when Naegi does things like that. He doesn’t understand me. We aren’t the same.”

Jack frowns. “Well, neither are we, and I understand you completely, Master!” She cackles again at Master’s expression. “But but but, either way, it’s really not that big of a deal. If him giving you that look bothers you so much, just tell him! And if he doesn’t listen, I’ll give him a quick stab for ya’.”

Master sighs. “That… won’t be necessary,” He stands up from where he was organizing supplies on the floor. “Carry these.”

“Yes, Master!” She says quickly, grabbing a bag of flour. Unfortunately for her, a cloud of it puffs up in front of her, and she sneezes.

Toko finds herself and Byakuya covered in flour, and is thoroughly confused, embarrassed, and apologetic for something she can’t recall, all at once.

* * *

Byakuya had found the ingredients to make donuts during their latest scavenging mission, and Aoi couldn’t have been more excited. She’d even _thanked_ Byakuya. Makoto smiles at the thought. As much as Byakuya insisted he didn’t care about them, Makoto could tell that wasn’t the truth. Yeah, he was full of himself, but if he didn’t care about them, he could’ve struck out on his own by now.

Anyway, that discovery led to Makoto, Hiro, and Aoi all making donuts together in the kitchen of the house they were staying in. Kyoko’s perched up on a stool at the island counter, but had declined the offer to help out, citing that she didn’t want to dirty her gloves.

Toko’s barricaded herself in one of the upstairs bedrooms and is getting some writing done, apparently having gotten some sudden burst of inspiration on the walk home. Byakuya, too, is alone in one of the bedrooms, but Makoto’s pretty sure he’s just sleeping.

The house they’re in is undamaged, a far cry from the houses they’d stayed in when they first left the school. The outside is a different story, still mostly destroyed, but it’s getting easier to find liveable houses. Makoto wonders how long it’ll be before they find other people. He wonders what kind of people they’ll be.

“Am I doing it right?” Hiro asks, pulling Makoto from his thoughts. Aoi, who has apparently done this before, is a donut-making machine. She’s extremely focused, her face fixed in a little pout, as she makes perfectly shaped donuts. Makoto thinks his look fine, too, if not as good as Aoi’s.

Hiro, meanwhile, is making doughy abominations.

Aoi lets out a sigh. “Hiro, that doesn’t even have a hole.”

Hiro throws his hands up. “So what? It’s a modern donut!”

Aoi giggles at that. “A modern donut?”

“Yeah, like… modern art!”

A small smile plays on Kyoko’s lips as she watches them. It makes Makoto happy, too. He’s glad they’re all happy, despite everything. He’s proud of them.

“Makoto, what do you think?” Aoi asks. Makoto blinks.

“Hm?”

“Are my modern donuts great, or what?” Hiro asks. Makoto frowns.

“I mean… I guess my one concern would be if they cook evenly. Appearance doesn’t really matter as much, donuts are still donuts as long as they’re made from donut batter and cooked like a donut. But if it doesn’t cook right, then maybe not.”

Aoi frowns. “Makoto! That’s totally wrong!”

Hiro grins proudly. “You’re just mad because Makoto said I’m right, and I can make my modern donuts! Booyah!”

Kyoko snorts behind a gloved hand.

“Oh, stop it! You’re both so wrong! I mean… I’ll still eat a modern donut, but… it’s the principle! A donut has to have a hole!” She fixes them with a feux-stern look before her eyes light up mischievously. Before Makoto has the chance to anticipate what she does next, she’s grabbing a handful of flour and tossing it at the pair with a giggle.

“Aw, c’mon, it got in my eye!” Hiro complains. Aoi shares a look with Kyoko, and the pair start laughing at the same time, which makes Makoto laugh too, as he brushes flour out of his hair. After a second, Hiro starts laughing too, even grabbing another handful of flour and tossing it at Aoi.

A minute or so later, Byakuya enters the kitchen, arms crossed and looking unimpressed. “Why are you all covered in flour and laughing like idiots?” He asks, but Makoto can tell that there’s the tiniest ghost of a smile playing on his lips.

“I saw you in the bakery earlier, Togami. You can’t talk,” Kyoko says, and Byakuya’s eyes widened slightly.

“Y-you saw that?” He regains his composure quickly. “And, anyway, that was Genocide Jack’s fault, not mine. And I assure you, I wasn’t _laughing_ about it, either.”

“Whatever you say, Byakuya,” Makoto grins. Byakuya rolls his eyes, but Makoto notes that there’s a fondness there. Even in the pictures Makoto had taken from his room, Byakuya had always been distant from the rest of them. While it seemed that others, like Celeste and Mondo, had grown quite a bit during their time at Hope’s Peak, there was always an aloofness present in Byakuya. Lately, Makoto had noticed moments of that haughtiness falling slightly. It made him feel kind of proud of Byakuya, in a weird way.

“C’mon, we need to get these frying so we can have them after dinner!” Aoi hurries them to finish shaping their donuts. Once they’re done, Kyoko offers to help with making the glaze.

“I can help without getting my hands dirty,” She says, and she and Aoi take over, leaving Hiro and Makoto sitting off to the side. Hiro nudges him gently as they watch from a bit away.

“So… how are things going with you and Kyoko?” He asks conspiratorially. Makoto frowns.

“What do you mean?”

Hiro winks. “Y’know. Like, you have a thing for her, yeah?”

Makoto frowns. “...Yeah, I do. I think she likes me, too, it’s just… it’s so complicated.”

Hiro nods sagely. “Course it is! Everything’s complicated. That’s life, man! You still have to make a move at some point! Life’s short. That’s something we all learned back at Hope’s Peak. You can’t take this stuff for granted. So, if you like someone, you gotta do something about it.”

Makoto considers his words. “That’s really insightful, Hiro. Thanks. I’ll probably take your advice.”

Hiro nods. “Obviously. Keep me posted, yeah? I’m invested, y’know. After all, we are going to have kids with the same wo-”

“Okay! Thanks, Hiro! I’m gonna go see if I can help out with the donuts, now!” He says, quickly getting up. Hiro really is quite a guy. He’s pretty obtuse at times, and a little selfish, but beyond that, he’s a good dude at heart. Makoto’s glad to have someone like him by his side.

He ends up helping Aoi dip the donuts in the glaze as they come out. Kyoko has gone back to sitting on the other side of the bar, and watches as they place each donut on the tray to rest.

“Y’know… I used to do this all the time with my little brother,” Aoi says, tongue poking out of the corner of her mouth as she carefully puts down another donut.

“You have a brother?” Makoto asks.

Aoi nods. “Yeah. He’s… probably my best friend. I hope he’s okay,” She frowns, lost in thought. Makoto can relate.

“I have a younger sister,” He says, pulling Aoi from her thoughts.

“Really? What’s her name?”

“Komaru. I… she was in my motive video, with the rest of my family. I… I hope I can get in contact with her,” He says. Aoi nods, reaching out and placing a hand on the small of his back.

“I hope so too. No, I know so! We’re gonna find a way to get in contact with them, okay? That’s a promise!” She says enthusiastically. Makoto nods.

“Yeah. Yeah! Let’s do that,” He says, grinning at her. Her smile widens slightly with that same mischievous glimmer, as she dips her pinkie in the glaze before booping him on the nose with it.

“Gotcha!” She laughs, and Makoto laughs with her. Kyoko, who had been politely pretending as if she wasn’t listening to their conversation, cracked a small smile.

“Alright, should we let everyone know dinner’s ready?” Makoto asks. Aoi frowns.

“Y’know, maybe I’ll bring some food up to Toko. It’s been a while since she’s actually sat down and written something, and if she’s anything like me when I’m swimming, she’s probably in the zone. You can let Byakuya and Hiro know, though.”

Makoto nods. “Alright, sounds good.”

He watches as Aoi prepares a container of instant noodles, a donut, a bottled water, and an apple, placing them all on a tray and carrying them upstairs. She and Toko hadn’t really gotten along, but they were at each other's throats less now that they had left the killing game. It was a welcome change of pace.

“It’s nice seeing her so… happy,” Kyoko says quietly. Makoto nods, having nearly forgotten that she was in the room.

“Yeah. She seems so much lighter most of the time.”

Kyoko sighs deeply. “I wish Sakura were here to see her like this. She’d be so proud.”

Makoto pauses for a moment. “Yeah, she would be. I think… I think she is. I don’t know if I believe in spirits, or an afterlife, or anything like that, but… I don’t know. People don’t just go away.”

Kyoko hums. “Yeah. It’s a nice thought.”

“I should get Byakuya and Hiro. Could you grab me one of those instant curries from the pantry while I get them?” Makoto asks, moving to leave the room. Kyoko nods.

“Sure thing, Makoto.”

* * *

Aoi pauses outside the door to Toko’s room. She’s not entirely sure what possessed her to do this. It would have been so much easier to just call her down to eat, or to just get Makoto to tell her. She and Toko had never gotten along.

Still, Aoi remembers that the other girl had always been uncomfortable eating in a group. It’s a peace offering, Aoi figures. And an excuse for Toko to eat alone without having to explain herself.

She raps on the door before pushing it open.

Toko is hunched over a notebook that Aoi has seen her carrying around since they left Hope’s Peak. She’s scribbling furiously with the pen Hiro had fished out of the trash for her, and she hasn’t even looked up to notice Aoi standing in the room. Aoi shifts her weight from one foot to the other for a few moments, before coughing to get the other girl’s attention.

It works. Toko’s head snaps up instantly. She starts.

“Wh-what are you doing here?” She asks defensively, snapping the notebook shut. Aoi smiles.

“Sorry, I knocked, but you didn’t hear me. Um, we made donuts, and I figured I’d bring you dinner? I didn’t want to interrupt you since you were writing.”

Toko frowns, glancing off to the side. “W-well, it didn’t r-really work, seeing as y-you interrupted me a-anyway,” She grumbles. Aoi ignores her words and places the tray on the desk Toko is working at. She moves to leave the room, but pauses in the doorway. For some reason she can’t explain, she turns back to face the other girl.

“So, um… what sort of stuff do you write about?” She asks, and regrets it immediately. She and Toko aren’t close. In fact, the other girl has made it known that she actively dislikes Aoi. Toko, who looks just as startled as Aoi feels at her words, takes a minute to reply.

“W-well, not that you really c-care, but I’ve been wr-writing more psychological h-horror lately.”

Aoi frowns. “Yeah? But, I mean… wasn’t the whole killing game enough horror for a lifetime? You really want to think about that kind of stuff more?”

Toko glowers, and Aoi senses she’s said something wrong. “N-not that an airhead like y-you would g-get it, but that’s e-exactly why I wr-write about it. When I w-was writing mostly r-romance, it w-was because that was h-how I was f-feeling. Writing h-horror now helps me th-think about the s-stuff at Hope’s Peak, so I c-can g-get it out of my system.”

Aoi hums thoughtfully. That makes sense, in a weird, roundabout sort of way. “Okay. So, does that mean you’d write about romance to get it out of your system? I mean, I feel like that’s something people generally enjoy feeling. Not that I’d really know, I mean.”

Toko frowns. “Wh-what do you m-mean?”

“Like, love and romance and stuff, that’s a nice feeling, right?”

Toko’s expression sours. “Th-that’s not what I w-was t-talking about. I m-mean, you h-haven’t had a c-c-crush before?”

Aoi frowns, crossing her arms defensively over her chest as she glances away. “No. I haven’t.”

Toko is quiet for a moment. When she speaks again, it startles Aoi a little. “I f-figured that y-you and Oogami were a th-thing.”

Aoi’s eyes snap up at that. Toko isn’t looking at her, instead tracing the grooves in the desk with her fingernail. That… hadn’t been something she was expecting Toko to say. Her gut instinct is to object, but something holds her back.

She didn’t think she’d experienced romance before, and yet… the more she thought about it, the more it felt wrong to write off her friendship with Sakura as just that. No, there was something more there, something she hadn’t realized, or maybe, subconsciously, hadn’t wanted to acknowledge.

There was always a deep sense of admiration that Aoi felt for Sakura. Aoi was someone who was always striving to improve, to beat her personal best, to prove herself time and time again. Sakura understood that. And beyond that, she became the standard in Aoi’s eyes. She was the strongest, and the bravest, and the kindest, and, despite what everyone else may have thought, she was the softest.

Sakura could have killed her. She was the traitor, after all. They’d been alone together countless times. They were alone the night they’d received the first motive. The night Sakura had been instructed to kill someone. And yet… Sakura hadn’t hurt her.

Sakura had protected her.

Sakura had died for her.

Asahina Aoi was in love with Oogami Sakura.

Oogami Sakura was dead.

“Oh.”

Toko remained silent, biting her lip as she continued to dig into the desk with her nail. Aoi took one deep breath, and another, and then another.

“Um. Enjoy your dinner, Toko,” Aoi says, not waiting for a response before she leaves the room.

* * *

The next morning, Makoto wakes up early. There’s a tense feeling in the air, and he has a feeling that something’s going to go wrong. He can’t help nervously running a hand through his hair at the thought. It’s the same feeling he would get right before Monokuma would announce a new motive. It’s the same feeling he’d get right before it registered that he was looking at a dead body.

He slides quietly out of his sleeping bag and creeps out onto the front porch, making sure to close the door quietly. It’s nice out, he notes absently. He remembers waking up early as a little kid to watch cartoons, sitting on the couch while his dad made coffee and prepared breakfast.

He misses that. He can’t stress enough how much he misses that.

Still, he has a job to do. For whatever reason, the group has decided that he’s their leader. He’s not really sure why. He’s nothing special, after all. Not compared to someone like Byakuya or Kyoko. They’re naturally decisive, and smart, and very take-charge. And yet, they listen to him.

He is pretty motivational, he guesses. He always did well at giving pep talks.

Ultimate Lucky Student? Ultimate Hope? Nah, he was the Ultimate Pep Talk Giver.

Makoto smiles to himself, amused by his own mediocre joke.

He’d noticed that Aoi was a little subdued after coming down from Toko’s room the night before. She’d eaten her dinner, acting cheerful as usual, but Makoto could tell it was forced. Aside from Kyoko, Aoi was pretty much his best friend at this point. He knew when she was acting off.

He would have asked her about it, but she went to bed right after dinner. He hopes she’s alright.

The door swings open with a quiet creak, and Kyoko moves to stand next to him. He glances over, shooting her a soft smile.

“Morning, Kyoko,” He says. She nods.

“Good morning. Just getting some air?”

He nods. “Yeah. I’m hoping we cover a lot of ground today,” He says.

“We’re probably going to reach people, soon. I think I saw someone the other day, when we were searching for supplies.”

Makoto nods again. “You’re probably right. It feels weird that we haven’t really seen anyone so far, but I guess I just didn’t realize how bad things were.”

Kyoko sighs. “It’s… strange to think that the whole world saw what happened to us during the killing game.”

Makoto tilts his head. “You think people are going to recognize us?”

“If Enoshima is to be believed, it seems like we were just about all people could watch. Probably, yes.”

Makoto breathes out through his nose. “That’s… gonna be weird.”

Kyoko merely hums in agreement.

“I’m… gonna make some coffee. Byakuya’ll kill me if I don’t have it done as soon as he’s up. Oh, and we can have coffee and donuts this morning! That’ll be a good start to the day, for sure!”

Kyoko smiles at him. “I think I’ll stay out for a few more minutes. You should hurry up with that coffee, though. I heard Togami stirring when I came outside.”

Makoto’s eyes widen. “Why didn’t you say so sooner! I’ve gotta hurry!” He says, heading back inside as quickly and quietly as possible. He catches a glimpse of Kyoko’s smile as he closes the door.

Maybe, he thinks as he prepares the coffeemaker, today won’t be so bad after all.

* * *

...It ended up being pretty awful.

Byakuya was in a bad mood from the start, snapping at everyone for the smallest things. Aoi’s dark cloud from the previous night hasn’t lifted, and she was noticeably quiet. Toko is extra snippy, too, and Makoto finds himself wondering if something had happened between the pair the night before. Hiro, as reliable as ever, is just as obtuse and loud as usual.

Of course, that means that Byakuya snaps at him every five minutes, which gets old pretty quickly.

When they finally start walking, Makoto’s leg acts up almost immediately. He’s had some issues with it since he fell down the trash chute during his execution, but until now, it had only happened when they’d already been travelling for a while, so it made sense to stop. Today, Makoto really wanted to make solid progress, so the pain was extra unwelcome.

So, he tries to ignore it. He doesn’t want to draw attention to it by showing that he’s in pain, so he bites back his winces and corrects his limp.

Kyoko notices. Of course she does.

“Let’s pause,” She says, ten minutes after his leg starts hurting. Byakuya frowns.

“Why? We just started walking,” He says. Kyoko glances at Makoto, and back to Byakuya.

“Oh,” Byakuya says, “Your leg hurts, Naegi? We really need to find some pain medication.”

“I’m fine, guys. Really,” Makoto says, and then winces as he feels another jolt of pain.

Aoi shakes her head. “Nope, we’re pausing. C’mon, I see a bench right over there, let’s go,” She loops his arm over her shoulder and supports him all the way to the bench, despite his weak arguments that he doesn’t need help or a break. She sits on one side of him, and Kyoko on the other. Byakuya stands facing away from them, glancing off into the distance. Toko, meanwhile, stands a few feet away, and keeps periodically glancing at Aoi when the other girl isn’t looking. That settles it, Makoto thinks. Something definitely happened last night.

Hiro plops down on the sidewalk in front of them, legs crossed. He lets out a deep sigh.

“Man. I really missed being out in nature. The breeze, the fresh air…”

Byakuya scoffs. “You call this natural? Hagakure, the sky is bright red.”

Hiro shrugs. “Whatever, Byakuya. It’s more natural than that hellish school, that’s for sure.”

Byakuya frowns, but doesn’t reply.

* * *

The day doesn’t get any better from there.

Makoto’s leg doesn’t stop hurting, but they have to keep moving. Nobody’s really talking, but the bad mood hangs over them nonetheless. Toko bumps into Byakuya and he explodes at her. She seems less pleased with it than she usually does. Aoi tells him off, and Toko snaps at her, too. Makoto tries to get control of the situation, tries to calm everyone down, but then they’re all just yelling over each other and nobody’s listening.

And then, it starts pouring. Because of course it does.

That shuts them up, at least.

They end up searching for a place to stop for the night, having covered far less ground than he’d hoped for. They’re in a metropolitan district, and almost everything is in shambles. Still, Kyoko’s the one to spot a decent-sized dojo that seems to be unharmed.

The inside is nice. Thankfully, it doesn’t look much like the dojo inside of Hope’s Peak. It’s bigger, and a lot more simplistic. Hiro lets out a low whistle.

“Damn. It’s a shame Ogre isn’t here, she’d love this place,” He says loudly.

“Don’t call her that.”

Makoto is startled by the intensity in Aoi’s voice, and it seems Hiro is as well.

“H-huh?”

Aoi glares. “I said, don’t call her that. It’s- it’s disrespectful.”

Hiro raises his hands in surrender. “Sorry, I didn’t mean anything by it.”

Aoi frowns, glancing to the side. “Of course you didn’t. You- you didn’t think. Everyone just treated her like crap, like, just because she was intimidating to them or whatever, they could insult her, and it’d be fine. Well, it was your loss, because you never took the chance to actually get to know her! You just wrote her off as some scary girl who could beat you up and didn’t look any further! But she was so much more than that! And- and to continue to call her some nasty nickname that boils her down to some simplistic, rude, and messed up idea of who she was? I just-” Aoi takes a deep breath. “I need a minute.”

She stalks off quickly, the angriest Makoto’s ever seen her. Hiro is in a state of shock, it looks like, and so is Byakuya. Honestly, the expression on the Affluent Progeny’s face would’ve been funny in any other situation. Kyoko is looking after the other girl with an unreadable expression and Toko… Toko looks almost sympathetic. Which is weird, because Makoto is pretty sure that she and Aoi don’t even like each other.

“I’m going after her,” Makoto says after a minute. Kyoko nods, and the others are too lost in their own thoughts to acknowledge him. He follows Aoi.

He finds himself in a changing room. It’s pretty small, with light blue lockers lining the walls. There’s a discarded hairbow lying on the floor. In the corner, Aoi is hugging her knees. Makoto can tell she’s crying.

“Hey,” He says softly. She glances up, softening a little when she sees who it is.

“Hi, Makoto,” She smiles through a sob.

“Can I sit with you?” He asks. She nods wordlessly, and he lowers himself down next to her. Instinctively, they lean into each other.

“So…” He says after a moment. “You really went off on Hiro back there.”

She sighs, wiping the tears from her cheeks with the back of her hand. “I shouldn’t have gotten so bad, I just… I know she hated that nickname. She’d never say anything, y’know? She was always too good for that. But it bothered her. And… I was thinking about her last night, and I just…”

She trailed off.

“She was a really good person,” Makoto says. Aoi half-laughs, half-sobs.

“Yeah. She was.”

“She would be really proud of you, you know. For making it out.”

“She’d be proud of you, too, Makoto. We all made it out, y’know.”

Makoto nods. “Yeah, but… I know it’s not the same.”

Aoi hums. “No. It’s not.”

There’s another long pause, and this time Aoi breaks it.

“I loved her, y’know?”

Makoto glances over. “Yeah?”

She laughs shakily. “Yeah. And I never… I never told her. Not in the way I meant it. I didn’t even really realize until last night, when…” She trails off again.

“I think… I think on some level, she probably knew. I… oh!” Makoto says suddenly, startling both Aoi and himself. He digs in his pocket and pulls out the stack of photographs, shifting through them and pulling a few out.

“I meant to give these to you a while ago, but here. I found them in my room, and I figured you’d want them,” He hands her the pictures he’d picked out, and she looks through them wordlessly. She stops on one, a picture of the two of them hugging. They’re next to a pool, and Aoi’s soaking wet, and they’re both beaming. Makoto thinks Aoi must have just won a competition or something.

She slips the pictures into her jacket pocket and smiles shakily at Makoto.

“Thank you, Makoto.”

“Of course. You’re… probably my best friend, so… I’m always here for you, okay?” He says, reaching out and grabbing her hand.

“That goes both ways, Naegi. No more pushing yourself when you’re hurting too much, okay? We’ve gotta find you a cane or something, honestly.”

Makoto waves her off. “I’m fine without.”

“Yeah, but it’ll still help.”

She’s not wrong.

There’s another lull in the conversation, before Aoi sighs and starts talking again.

“I feel like… I need something more to remember her by. I really appreciate the photos, but what if I lose them, or they get wet? I don’t… I need something permanent.”

Makoto frowns at that. “Well, I think… a part of someone you lose is always with you in a way, y’know? But if you want to make it official, you could always get a tattoo.”

Aoi starts. “A… tattoo?”

Makoto shrugs. “Yeah, like, something that reminds you of her. So you have something physical that you can’t lose.”

“Something that reminds me of Sakura…” Aoi trails off for a moment, before her eyes light up. “Oh, I know! She always loved cherry blossoms, so… maybe I could get a tattoo of those?”

Makoto smiles at her. “I think that’s a great idea.”

Aoi’s head falls onto his shoulder, and he leans his own head into hers. It’s strange. They’ve known each other for about a month, but also about two years, and still, it feels like they’ve known each other forever. He said it before, but Aoi really is his best friend.

* * *

That night, Makoto can’t sleep.

He slips out of his sleeping bag, out of the room that they were staying in together, and into the main room of the dojo. He sighs, leaning against the wall and sliding down, his shirt riding up as he reaches the bottom. He pulls it back down as he readjusts himself.

He doesn’t feel resolved. That’s it. He always expected things to have neat, easy conclusions, but nothing about his life now was neat. Nothing was easy. It was all hard.

He was the leader. Just some normal guy who happened to be thrown into abnormal circumstances. The five survivors were his responsibility now. Makoto was the one who had convinced them to leave the school. He was the one pushing them forward. If they fell apart… it would be on him.

It would be on him the same way that _she_ was.

Makoto almost doesn’t notice the door he’d come through opening and closing. Kyoko is an expert at moving undetected when she wants to. She sits next to him.

“Can’t sleep?” He asks her. Kyoko shifts.

“I heard you get up,” She says. Makoto smiles.

“That’s not an answer.”

She sighs. It’s a sound he’s familiar with. “There’s something on your mind.” It’s a statement of fact, not a question. Makoto’s thoughts must be pretty loud, he thinks. Or maybe Kyoko’s just observant like that. Maybe she just cares about him.

“Yeah,” He says, allowing himself to drop the near-constant cheer he keeps in his voice. “I was thinking about Sayaka.” It’s a half-truth. He’s pretty sure Kyoko can tell.

“Yeah? What about her, exactly?”

Makoto frowns. “I guess… I just feel like, looking back, I could’ve done so much more to save her. To save all of them, but especially her. I should have figured out what she was trying to do.”

Kyoko shifts again, taking time to consider her words. “You couldn’t have known. Or rather, there was no reason for you to think she was going to attempt murder. Remember when we had that conversation about confirmation bias?” Makoto nods, before realizing she probably can’t see him in the dark.

“Yeah.”

“It’s like that,” She says, “You were expecting her to be scared, because it was a horrible situation. You were expecting her to ask for comfort, at least a little bit. It was a much more rational conclusion than murder. If you had expected that she was going to attempt to kill someone, then… I don’t think you would be the kind of person who would escape a killing game.”

“Byakuya got out,” Makoto says. Kyoko laughs drily.

“He wouldn’t have without you. Or at least, he wouldn’t have without getting his hands dirty.”

Makoto sighs. He doesn’t like to think of his friends as murderers, but it’s true. A lot of people have the potential to do horrible things when they’re put in horrible situations.

“I think Leon and I were close,” Makoto changes the subject slightly.

Kyoko hums. “I noticed that in the pictures. You hung out with him and Sayaka a lot.”

“They were dating, I think.”

“You’re right.”

Makoto sighs, carding a hand through his hair. “That just- I feel like that makes it so much more messed up, you know? And- Mondo and Chihiro seemed close, too, and Celestia even seemed to be friends with everyone else, and I guess I just- I don’t know. It makes me sad. And, I know I’m not supposed to be sad, because we’re putting the killing game behind us, and we have to keep moving, and I have to stay positive and set a good example, but I am. Some days, I just… I can’t do it.”

Kyoko is quiet for a moment, and Makoto is left wondering if he said something wrong. Just as he’s about to apologize (for what, he’s not entirely sure), she breaks the silence.

“Celestia and I were close before the killing game,” Kyoko says. Makoto nods.

“Yeah, it looked like it,” He agrees.

“I can see why I would be drawn to her,” Kyoko says, “I sort of was, anyway. How much of that was because of our lost memories, and how much of it was just who we both were as people is uncertain. Regardless, there was something about her… constant lying that drew me towards her, I guess. She was lying all the time, and I caught on quickly. To everyone else, yes, but also to herself. I found that out pretty quickly.”

Makoto frowns. “So, she was sort of like… a mystery, in a way? And you were drawn to her because you’re a detective?”

“A Kirigiri values the truth above all else. I realize now that that code is… flawed, but still, the truth is one of the most important things to me. And her lying… it hurt others, yes, but mostly, it was just hurting Celestia herself. She was never truly genuine, which meant that all of her true thoughts and feelings were pent up. She never got the chance to air them out, in a sense.”

“Except at the end.”

“Except at the end,” Kyoko agrees. “While we were different, I think that… we were also similar, in a few ways. Where she lied about all of her feelings, I acknowledged them, but pushed them down so they wouldn’t interfere in my search for the truth. Looking back, that’s just a different kind of lie.”

Makoto readjusts himself against the wall. “Truth and lies… hope and despair… people always think that ideas like that are opposites, but it’s always more complicated than that, isn’t it? One can’t exist without the other, so there’s always gotta be a little bit of one inside the other, right?”

Kyoko hums thoughtfully. “Right.” There’s a moment of silence, before Kyoko is standing up next to him and offering him her gloved hand. “Don’t bury your emotions, Makoto. There are people willing to listen to you, or to talk with you. Don’t forget that.”

Makoto nods, taking her hand and allowing her to pull him up. In the dark, he stumbles a little into her, and she stumbles back too, before catching them both. They don’t move for a moment, but then Kyoko’s taking a step back, and Makoto’s rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.

“Sorry about that,” Makoto says quickly, before Kyoko can say anything. He can see her shake her head in the dark.

“It’s alright. I pulled you up too quickly.”

They stand like that for a couple of seconds, before both wordlessly returning to the side room. Makoto’s heart is in his throat a little bit. He and Kyoko really need to talk about what they are, exactly, but the time for that isn’t tonight. They have a long day ahead of them, after all.

* * *

The day after her conversation with Makoto, Aoi and Kyoko are scavenging together.

It’s weird. Aoi never really had… friends before? Like, she’s always been so focused on swimming and the rest of her sports, that she’s never gotten the chance to make friends outside of her various teams. And even then, all the girls she played with had other, better friends, and most of them thought she was kinda weird. So. That left her out of the loop, mostly.

Not that it really bothered her, though! They could think whatever they wanted about her. Really, she didn’t care too much about what other people thought about her. The most important person she needed to impress was herself.

Still… having a friend seemed nice.

Sakura was her first real friend, aside from her brother. But now, Sakura was gone, and Yuta was missing, and… she was searching through a half-destroyed grocery store with Kirigiri Kyoko.

Kyoko was also her friend, actually. Makoto too. And Hiro, even if they hadn’t really had a talk about what happened the night before. She felt kind of bad about blowing up at him, but her point still stood. Even she and Toko were starting to become something resembling friendly, weirdly enough. They understood each other a little better, at least.

Byakuya… Aoi doesn’t know if she’ll ever truly understand him, or be friends with him. She’s not sure if he’s actually heard of the concept of friendship. But… they’re not, like, enemies or anything.

“Find anything?” She asks Kyoko, who shakes her head.

“No, nothing. You?”

“Nope,” Aoi replies, popping the ‘p’ inadvertently. It’s a habit she picked up two- or, well, four years ago, when she started doing it to amuse Yuta. It was a mannerism that ended up sticking, even in situations where it was a little inappropriate. Like this one.

“Let’s move on, then,” Kyoko says, “There’s another grocery store across the street. Maybe they’ll have something we can use.”

The walk across the street is silent. Kyoko is a naturally quiet person, Aoi thinks. Where she tends to attempt to fill any silence with noise, Kyoko is comfortable saying nothing. Enough so, that Aoi’s gotten used to being quiet around her. Just being in each others’ company.

Kyoko is a reassuring presence. She’s reliable, and strong. She’s… a lot like Sakura, in that way. They’re different in a lot of other ways, but that’s something Aoi admires in both of them. She’s strong too. She’s just not sure she’s the same kind of strong that they are.

“Something’s troubling you,” Kyoko notes as they begin searching the shelves. These are at least a little more stocked than the last store they checked, but most of the food has gone bad.

“Yeah, I was just wondering… when are we going to see people again, do you think? And when we find them… what are they gonna be like?”

“I’m… not sure. It is strange that we haven’t seen anyone so far. The longer we’re out here, though, the more likely we’ll run into someone.”

Aoi picks through a collapsed shelf and pulls out a bag of gummies. Not a solid meal or anything, but it was something. She always had liked gummies. “It makes me feel kinda like I did at the start. Like, something was off, but I couldn’t really put my finger on it? How empty it was, and just… the whole environment,” Aoi shudders. “It feels like that.”

“It’s surreal,” Kyoko agrees, “Does that bother you a lot?”

Aoi frowns. “Yeah, I guess. It’s… not a good feeling. Like, I’m just waiting for the other shoe to drop, y’know?”

Kyoko hums. “I understand.”

Aoi forces herself to grin. “But hey, at least we’re in this together?” It comes out sounding more like a question than anything else. Kyoko glances at her.

“Yes, we are.”

It’s reassuring to hear that, honestly. It reminds her of Makoto, which reminds her of the conversation she had with him the day before.

“Hey, Kyoko?”

“Hm?”

“Have… you ever considered getting a tattoo?” She asks. Kyoko frowns.

“I… not really, no.”

“Oh, okay,” Aoi says. There’s a pause. “I was just thinking of getting one, is all.”

“Yeah?”

“Mhm,” She says, “Of cherry blossoms.”

Kyoko nods, reaching for something at the back of one of the shelves. “Oogami liked them a lot, didn’t she.”

Aoi smiles sadly. “Yeah. She did.”

“Where would you want to get it?”

Aoi frowns, considering this for a moment, before replying. “Probably on my shoulder. My left one. Sakura would… she would always put her hand on my shoulder, when she could tell I was getting freaked out? So, it would be like she’s reassuring me, I guess.”

Kyoko is silent for a moment. “Maybe I’ll get a tattoo with you.”

Aoi perks up at this, interested. “Mhm? What would you get a tattoo of, Kyoko?”

Another pause. “A playing card, maybe.”

Aoi frowns, thinking for a moment. That reminded her of Celestia. She did recall Kyoko and the Ultimate Gambler spending time together occasionally, now that she thinks about it.

“That’s a good idea. We should get them together, for sure,” Aoi says. Kyoko looks up at her and smiles, and Aoi smiles back, and they understand each other a little more now, Aoi thinks.

She’s glad she has someone like Kyoko. Someone who understands.

The silence that settles over the two of them is comfortable.

* * *

Toko is excited to be partnered with Byakuya while they’re scavenging. Of course, he makes her do all of the hard work, but that’s to be expected. She’s making herself useful to him, at least. That’s what she’s supposed to do.

Still, when she offers to check in a dumpster for him, she notices an expression she can’t place flicker across his face. Her first instinct is that it’s disgust, but that isn’t it. It’s… Byakuya looks tired.

“Just… do what you want, Fukawa,” He says finally. Toko frowns.

“Y-you don’t w-want me to h-help?” She questions. He sighs, exasperated. He’s getting sick of her.

“You’re not helping anyone by jumping in the garbage,” He says. Toko frowns.

“B-but H-hiro did last w-week,” She says.

“And that was disgusting and a waste of time, too. He didn’t find anything useful,” Toko refrains from telling him that she’s still using the pen he found her, “And he just ended up smelling like garbage. Which is somewhat fitting, I suppose,” He pauses. “If you really want to sort through garbage, go ahead. But I’m not going to ask you to.”

“Ok-kay,” She mumbles, more to herself than Byakuya. She’s embarrassed herself in front of Master, again. She tells herself that what she’s feeling is good, in a weird way. That’s what she always tells herself. Being treated like this makes her feel good.

Byakuya is looking at her, considering her. His gaze is firm. She feels like she’s under a microscope. He’s never really looked at her before, always barely glancing at her or acknowledging her at all, but now, for whatever reason, he’s looking directly at her.

“Wh-what?” Toko asks, voice shaky.

Byakuya scoffs. “Nothing. I just don’t understand you, is all. Or, I guess I do, in a way. I just don’t appreciate it.”

“Wh-what do you m-mean?” She asks. She’s lost, honestly. It makes her uncomfortable. She likes to know what people’s intentions are. Even if she knows someone hates her, at least she won’t be caught off-guard. Byakuya’s expression right now is unreadable.

“Do you really like it when I treat you like garbage? Why do you enjoy it so much? Most normal people wouldn’t, you know.”

Toko smiles at him, sickly sweet. “Which is wh-why, I’m b-better for you than a-any of those g-girls. I accept the w-way you t-treat me.” _Because it’s what I deserve_ was a sentiment that went unspoken.

Byakuya was silent again, considering her, before letting out another deep sigh. “I am seriously going to regret this…” He mumbles, half to himself, before addressing Toko again. “You may be… strange and disgusting, but even so… you deserve better than being constantly insulted and degraded. I certainly don’t consider us close, but with your constantly following me around like a lost puppy these past few weeks, I have, inadvertently, become… familiar with you. And, while you’re certainly not someone I, personally, would appreciate… there’s someone out there who will,” The last few words sound like they almost pain him to say. “You’re… alright, Fukawa. Don’t waste your energy on someone like me, who isn’t going to ever want you for who you are. God, I sound ridiculous even saying this, but… you deserve better.”

Toko is left speechless.

Master doesn’t want her. He doesn’t need her. And not in the way that she likes (she tells herself she likes it, she repeats it like a mantra, if she repeats it enough, maybe it’ll be true), and he’s discarding her, just like that. Just like everyone else.

Except… no. That’s wrong.

Togami Byakuya isn’t like everyone else.

He’s telling her she’s worth something.

He’s not the first to say it, but he is close. And he’s the first to actually kind of get through. She pauses, saying nothing.

“I h-have to g-g0,” She stutters out, before turning quickly and running back to the dojo. Byakuya doesn’t try to stop her.

Now, she’ll barricade herself inside and write. Maybe then she’ll understand where to go from here. Maybe… maybe Byakuya has a point.

It is Byakuya saying it, after all. So she’ll consider it.

* * *

That night, after dinner Hiro announces that he’s found something great. Makoto had seen him excitedly grab something from behind a convenience store checkout counter earlier, but when he’d asked what it was, Hiro had just said that it was a secret. Now, though, he reveals that he’d found a deck of cards, and that they had to play something.

With a little convincing from Hiro (meaning, he bothered everyone enough until they threw up their hands and agreed to play a round), they were all sitting in a circle and being dealt cards.

Makoto’s seated in between Kyoko and Byakuya, and across from Toko. Hiro’s decided they’re playing war, which is… one of the few card games Makoto’s familiar with, honestly. He’s not really a card game person, usually preferring board games during family game nights.

Still, war’s fun, he thinks absently, flipping over his cards and cheering when he wins a round. They aren’t really talking, just flipping cards rhythmically. Everyone seems lost in their own heads.

“Sorry, this is kinda boring. I don’t know that many card games, honestly,” Hiro frowns, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. “At least, not many that I’d play with teenagers, if y’know what I mean.”

Hiro laughs at his own joke.

Nobody else does.

“Well… we aren’t technically teenagers anymore, aren’t we? Like, we’re adults now, we just… forgot?” Aoi says, but she sounds a little unsure of herself.

Hiro shrugs. “Yeah, but I mean… it’s not like any of us remember the two years we lost. So… you’re all still teenagers in my book, unless we somehow get our memories back, I guess.”

“Makes sense,” Byakuya says, flipping his next card. He’s winning, currently, but not by much.

“Man…” Hiro trails off. “I know the chick killed two people and tried to frame me for it, but I really wish Celeste was here to teach us some different games.”

Byakuya rolls his eyes. “You know, the more you talk about how boring this game is, the less we all want to play it.”

Makoto laughs. “That’s not true. I’m having fun, Hiro. It’s been a while since I’ve sat down and just done something fun. But, there’s no need to apologize.”

Aoi speaks up. “Um… I actually know a couple other games, if you want to switch it up after this round?”

Hiro grins. “Oh, totally! Thanks, Aoi.”

Toko frowns, glancing to the side. “I g-guess I could stay up f-for one more g-game.”

Aoi shoots her a wide grin at that, which Toko ignores. Still, Makoto feels his heart warming at the interaction. A couple of weeks ago, the two of them were at the others’ throat constantly. Now, they’re actually kind of getting along.

Kyoko ends up just barely beating Byakuya, and then Aoi is dealing cards and explaining the rules of Napoleon to everyone. Everyone picks up the rules relatively quickly, and the game is going smoothly before Hiro speaks up again.

“Y’know… if the killing game was being broadcast, and there were cameras everywhere, then were people, like… watching us sleep?” He asks. Aoi starts.

“God, I hope not! Some nights I was just crying in bed for hours. I would hate to think that people saw me like that…” She trails off. Kyoko sighs.

“Knowing Enoshima, that may well have been the case. But… nobody could blame you for reacting that way. It was an upsetting situation.”

Toko has paled. “Wh-what else d-do you th-think they s-saw?” She looks terrified. It’s Aoi, surprisingly, who reaches out, taking the other girl’s hand in hers. Toko jumps slightly at the touch, looking at the other girl in confusion, but doesn’t move to take her hand back.

“Listen, Toko… whatever it is you’re worried about, I think you’re fine. I mean… I literally tried to get everyone killed because I fell for some stupid fake suicide note Monokuma planted. I cried a lot, I wasn’t very helpful during class trials, I made a fool of myself plenty of times… we all acted horrible in there. And we’re the ones who survived! Some of our classmates killed people, and still… I don’t think they were bad people. Before we lost our memories, we were all friends, and nobody killed anybody else… It was the situation we were in, like Kyoko said. It was Enoshima’s fault.”

Toko looks away, embarrassed. “I w-was more talking about… h-her, but… th-that’s r-r-reassuring t-too.”

Aoi flushes as well. “Oh, right. Well, I think the legal system probably has more pressing issues right now, so you’re probably fine.”

Hiro puffs out his chest. “And even if they’re not fine, I won’t let anyone try to arrest you! We’re in this together now, yeah? For better, or for worse!”

Byakuya rolls his eyes at Hiro’s theatrics. “...I would argue that it’s definitely for worse.”

Hiro laughs, slinging an arm around Byakuya’s shoulder. “You know you love me!”

Byakuya looks even more annoyed now, and it’s taking everything in Makoto not to burst out laughing. He shares a look with Kyoko, who is also clearly trying not to laugh, although to someone who didn’t know her as well, it would probably look like she didn’t care.

Huh. Makoto is way better at reading her expressions than he used to be.

He smiles at the thought.

Kyoko notices him staring. Of course she does.

She reaches out to take his hand. He flushes, butterflies in his stomach. It’s funny, he thinks, that he’s feeling this way now. He feels a pang of guilt, that he gets to sit with his friends and laugh and hold a pretty girl’s hand, when so many people had died to get them there.

But, no. That’s wrong. Sakura, Kiyotaka, Chihiro… Sayaka. All of their friends would want them to be happy. To move forward. They would be proud.

Makoto squeezes Kyoko’s hand back.

* * *

The card games had stretched long into the night. Hiro had pulled out a few unopened bottles of wine that he’d scavenged as well, and passed it around the circle. Even Byakuya was a little more loose with his words and actions as the night went on.

It’s nice, Hiro thinks. To be able to relax like this. He’s always loved nights like these. Everything seems a little lighter. Everyone feels a little closer. Everything is connected, and happening all at once, and to be alive is to love the universe in spite of and because of every single messed up detail.

Now, Aoi is asleep, her head in Kyoko’s lap. Makoto is laughing loudly at something Byakuya said, his head pushed onto Kyoko’s shoulder. The girl in question looks pretty happy with her situation, all things considered. She’s had less to drink than the rest of them, but the smile on her face is genuine, and it makes Hiro proud. It’s good to see her expressing herself.

Toko seems close to falling asleep herself. Her happiness is a lot more subdued, but it’s there for sure, and Hiro’s glad. She deserves to be happy, he thinks. They all do, of course, but Toko’s got this weight on her, all the time, like she’s afraid to take anything that makes her happy, because she’s afraid someone’s going to take it away.

Well, if anyone tries that, they’re going to have to go through Hiro first. He promises himself that he’ll always keep an eye out for her. For all of them. Makoto may be the leader, but Hiro’s still the oldest. If anything bad happens to any of them, it’s on him.

Hiro’s noticed, too, a change in the dynamic between Byakuya and Toko. They’d been a little… off, since they’d gotten back from their scavenging mission earlier that day. But as the night had drawn on, and everyone had relaxed, they’d… started joking with each other. Being _friendly_. Toko had only called Byakuya master _once_ , and she’d corrected herself afterwards.

They must have had some sort of a talk. That’s good, Hiro thinks. Their dynamic always made him a little uncomfortable, but he’d never been sure what to do about it. He’s glad they sorted it out on their own.

Speaking of Toko, the girl in question shakily rises to her feet.

“I-I’m gonna h-head to bed, I th-think,” She says. Makoto shoots her a wide smile.

“Okay, Toko! Sleep well!” He says, louder than he needs to. Toko looks a little startled, but nods.

“Th-thanks. You t-too,” She says, moving to head to bed. Hiro gets to his feet as well.

“You mind if I walk you? Wouldn’t want you to trip and fall or anything, y’know,” He offers. Toko frowns, and he’s pretty sure she’s about to decline, but she nods.

“Okay. B-but don’t try anyth-thing!” She says. Hiro raises his hands in surrender.

“No way, sister. Wasn’t planning on it,” He steadies her as she walks toward the side room they’ve been sleeping in. Once they’re inside, and the sounds of laughter between Byakuya and Makoto are muffled, the pair stand awkwardly across from each other.

Toko fixes him with a look. “Wh-what are you doing?”

Hiro shrugs. “I guess… I just wanted to say, I’m proud of you?” His words are uncertain. He wasn’t planning on saying anything to her, really, but now that he’s said it, he doesn’t regret it. It’s true, after all. He just hopes Toko takes it the right way.

“H-huh?”

Okay, so she’s confused. Not mad, at least. That’s good. “I guess, just… you’ve grown a lot as a person since we met, y’know? You seem more confident in yourself. That’s good, and I’m glad. I guess that’s what I’m trying to say.”

Toko frowns, looking away, and Hiro hopes he hasn’t said anything wrong. “Th-thanks, then. I g-guess.”

Hiro nods, laughing a little nervously. “Yeah, no problem! And, you let me know if that pen I got you runs out, or if you need a new notebook. I’m really good at finding that kinda stuff, so I can get you hooked up.”

Toko nods. “Okay, I w-will,” There’s a pause. “C-can you leave now? I’m g-gonna get changed.”

Hiro nods quickly, flustered. “Right! Super sorry, man. I’m leaving now, hahah,” He hurries out of the room and back into the main area.

The circle has shifted again. Byakuya has scooted closer to Makoto, and they’re almost touching at this point. Byakuya’s still uncharacteristically happy-looking, but he seems a little closer to sleep now. Makoto’s looking a bit drowsy too, leaning further into Kyoko’s side. Aoi has shifted in her sleep so that she’s practically draped over Kyoko, and a little onto Makoto too. Kyoko herself looks half-pleased, half-amused. Hiro catches her eye and smiles at her, which she returns.

Yeah, Hiro thinks. They’re gonna be alright. Even if stuff is all messed up, even if they fight, even if they’ve experienced way too many shitty things before reaching adulthood, these kids are gonna be okay. They have each other. And they have Hiro, too. He may say dumb stuff sometimes, and yeah, he’s acted selfishly plenty of times. But he’s never going to let anything bad happen to any of these kids again. That’s a promise.

* * *

Makoto and Byakuya fall asleep pretty quickly after that. Hiro, who’s stayed sitting across from them, asks Kyoko if she’d like his help moving them back to the side room. She shakes her head.

“No,” She says, “I’d hate to disturb them right now. If you could bring over some blankets, though, that would be appreciated.”

Hiro nods, leaving quickly and returning with his arms piled high with blankets and pillows, which he awkwardly positions over and around them. After he’s satisfied with his work, he stands up again, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.

“Well, uh… if that’s all good, I’m probably gonna head back to the side room to get some sleep.”

Kyoko nods. “Okay. Goodnight, Hiro. Thank you.”

Hiro nods back at her. “No prob! Holler if you need anything, yeah? Night,” He says, before heading back the way he came.

Kyoko finds it hard to fall asleep.

She’s always had trouble sleeping, since she was young and first living with her grandfather. It was hard sleeping in an unfamiliar place. Still, as she’s gotten older, very few places have felt familiar, and she’s gotten used to running on very little sleep.

Now, though, she’s awake for a different reason.

Makoto is pressed into her side, drooling a little bit in his sleep. It’s a little gross, yeah, but it’s also _Makoto_ , and coming from him, it’s honestly a little cute. His hair’s mussed up, even more so than usual, and he looks so peaceful. Kyoko allows herself to smile as she looks at him. Cute.

Byakuya, too, looks strangely peaceful. It was odd, watching him slowly loosen up over the course of the night. He had shown them all a side of himself Kyoko had never seen before. Honestly, she doubts anyone has seen this side of the Ultimate Affluent Progeny. It’s in such stark contrast to the image he projects of himself.

They’re similar, in that way. Outward expression of their emotions has been trained out of both of them. Still, her mask has slipped more and more often, lately. Maybe Byakuya is feeling comfortable enough to finally do the same.

It’s thanks to Makoto, of course. Neither of them would have dreamt of showing these sides of themselves without Makoto’s intervention.

He really is quite the guy, Kyoko thinks. He brings out the best in people.

Aoi stirs on her lap. Kyoko glances down, and grows slightly concerned at the expression on the other girl’s face. It had been peaceful before, but now the girl looks troubled. Aoi whimpers quietly, and Kyoko realizes that she’s having a nightmare.

Kyoko frowns, considering for a moment, before gently shaking Aoi’s shoulder to rouse her. It takes a moment, but Aoi’s eyes flutter open. Her expression at first is one of confusion, before morphing into realization, and finally tired acceptance.

“You alright?” Kyoko says, her voice slightly coarse after not having talked for a while. Aoi nods.

“Yeah, just… just a dream. Nothing to worry about,” She says, but the smile on her face is forced. Kyoko fixes her with a look.

“You want to talk about it?”

Aoi pauses, before nodding again. “Yeah, okay.”

There’s a beat of silence, before she’s continuing again.

“It was good, at first. We were all hanging out- all of us,” Kyoko catches the meaning of her words. Even the dead students. “It was nice out, and we were racing in the park- not all of us, but me and Leon and Mondo and Hiro were. A couple of people were watching, and everyone else was, y’know, doing their own thing. It was nice. I was winning, but then… I don’t know. Everything felt wrong, all of a sudden.”

Kyoko doesn’t say anything, allowing Aoi a moment to collect her thoughts.

“I turned around, and there was just… everyone was dead. And Monokuma came out of nowhere, with his creepy dumb smile, and he laughed and all of a sudden, I was getting pulled back by that- that claw thing? That would pull people away when they got executed?” Aoi’s talking faster now, her voice frantic. Kyoko can hear tears threatening to spill out. She moves her hand to Aoi’s forehead and brushes the loose hair away from her face. Aoi is caught off guard by the touch. She looks at Kyoko with wide eyes, and Kyoko feels the need to explain herself.

“You can keep going if you’d like. You just seemed upset, so…” Kyoko trails off, because she’s honestly not sure why she chose to do this in particular. Aoi is still looking up at her, looking a little in awe, and Kyoko only has one thought at this moment. Aoi is very pretty, even now. Even when she’s terrified and tired and startled, she’s probably one of the prettiest people Kyoko has ever seen.

Hm. That would be something to unpack later.

Aoi seems to shake herself from whatever thoughts are running through her head at the same time Kyoko does. She continues, noticeably less frantic. Good. At least Kyoko’s attempt at calming the other girl down worked.

“I was… dragged through the forest, and I got really scraped up by all the branches and stuff. Anyway, I got pulled into this… water tank. It was really big, and as soon as I was down there, I couldn’t see the surface or anything. I tried to swim away, but no matter where I went, I wasn’t any closer to getting out. And then… I saw there were sharks, with me in the water. But beyond them, I could see through the glass, and it was… everyone. Monokuma, my teammates, my family, you guys… Sakura. You were all… watching. And not doing anything. Right as the sharks were about to eat me, you woke me up.”

Kyoko breathes in through her mouth, and out through her nose. People like Makoto and Aoi didn’t deserve to go through anywhere near the amount of horrible things they’d been through. Nobody did, but especially people like them. People who were just… good.

Nobody is incapable of doing bad things. The killing game had proven that time and time again. But Kyoko has a hard time thinking of Aoi or Makoto as anything other than good people who were put in a bad situation.

She takes a moment before speaking again. “That’s horrible. I’m sorry, Aoi.”

Aoi looks startled at her words, which isn’t much of a surprise, considering the amount of emotion she’d let herself show in that moment. Still, Aoi is only thrown off for a second before she replies. “Thanks. I… I’m glad you’re here, y’know? Maybe this is weird, but… you being here makes me feel safe. Kinda like how Sakura would…” She trails off, looking sad again, before perking up slightly. “I’m lucky, y’know? That I got to know both of you, at least. I’ve gotta say stuff like that, and not think about how unlucky I am aside from that. If I think about all the ways things could’ve played out where Sakura survived, or all of us did… I’d drive myself crazy. I kind of do, sometimes. But… it’s better to count the good things. Do you get what I’m saying?”

Kyoko considers, for a moment. The feeling of spending time with Celeste, in almost complete silence, playing cards and drinking tea. Of watching as she was unceremoniously crushed to death as flames licked the ends of the clothes she’d taken so much care to design herself. Of a photo of the two of them together, both familiar and foreign, immortalized in a teenage boy’s bedroom with the other ghosts. She considers Celestia Ludenburg, who she loved, and maybe still does, in spite of everything.

And, she considers Makoto, leaning on her shoulder, drooling. Of the boy who nearly died for her, who lied for her. Who got _Byakuya_ to laugh, real, genuine laughter. Whose hair was always messy, and whose shoes were always untied, and who had never once lost faith in her. Who had brought them all together. Who had been the only one who could have ever defeated Junko Enoshima. She considers Makoto, who she loves.

She considers Toko and Hiro and Byakuya, too. She had dismissed each of them, at first, as exactly who they’d presented themselves as. Sure, she was willing to look deeper as it pertained to the investigations and trials, but beyond that, she’d found each of them annoying in their own way. Now, though, they’re so much more than that to her. Hiro is caring, and protective, and brings her blankets when she asks and walks Toko to her room. Toko is smart, and so much more than she gives herself credit for, but she’s growing. And Byakuya is cold and aloof, yes, but Kyoko can see that he cares so much more than he lets on, because she can see it mirrored in herself.

Finally, she considers Aoi. Aoi, who is looking at her with wide eyes, whose head is in her lap and whose hair is in her hand. Aoi who is strong, stronger than even she knows, probably. Who always defends who and what she believes in. Who was willing to go to extreme lengths to avenge Sakura’s death. Who is wonderful, Kyoko thinks. And beautiful. She considers Asahina Aoi, and she realizes she loves her, too.

Before she realizes what she’s doing, Kyoko is leaning down and pressing a kiss to Aoi’s forehead. It’s soft, softer than Kyoko had thought she was capable of being, and it’s quick. She’s pulling away almost before she’s processed what she’s doing, and when she looks down again, Aoi’s still looking at her with startled eyes, a light flush coloring her cheeks. Suddenly, Kyoko is flustered and looking away.

“Sorry, I’m not sure why…” She trails off because she _is_ sure, she’s more sure than she’s ever been. Aoi bites the corner of her lip.

“No no, don’t apologize, I… it was fine. Nice, actually. Yeah. I liked it,” She says, tentatively meeting Kyoko’s eye. Kyoko nods.

“I… alright. That’s… that’s good, then. I think, maybe… tomorrow, we should have a conversation with Makoto.”

Aoi’s expression drops slightly, but she recovers quickly. “Right! Sorry, I shouldn’t have assumed… I know you guys are a thing, so…”

Kyoko stops her. “No, that’s not it. We haven’t… exactly talked about what we are, yet. And… it’s like you said, really. I’m lucky to know both of you.”

Aoi brightens slightly, looking the tiniest bit more hopeful. “You mean… you think he’d be okay with you… being with me, and with him at the same time?”

Kyoko smiles at the thought. “I think he would. This is Makoto we’re talking about, after all. He’ll probably be happy that we’re all getting along. And besides… I’m not sure he won’t have his own proposal to make.”

At Aoi’s look of confusion, she shoots a pointed glance at the way Byakuya’s arms are wrapped around Makoto’s waist. Aoi’s eyes widen, and she nods in recognition.

“You think he and Byakuya…” She trails off. Kyoko shrugs.

“I’m not completely sure, but they are fond of each other. And that’s saying something when it comes to Togami.”

Aoi laughs quietly. “Yeah. And now that you mention it…” She trails off, glancing toward the door to the side room. Kyoko tilts her head.

“Yeah?”

Aoi shakes her head, looking back at Kyoko. “It’s nothing. Just… another conversation to have, maybe. I’ll have to think about it.”

Kyoko thinks she has an idea of what, or rather, who the conversation might be about, but she remains quiet. If Aoi wants to talk about it, she will.

“Okay,” She pauses. “Are you… feeling any better?”

Aoi nods. “Yeah, thank you. You’re really good at this stuff, you know?”

Kyoko frowns. She hadn’t ever really considered herself good at comforting people, but she’s glad that she was able to make Aoi feel better. “...Thank you.”

Aoi yawns, curling closer into Kyoko. It makes Kyoko’s heart flutter, which makes her flush with embarrassment. _That_ is a new feeling. It’s not an unpleasant one, though.

Yeah, she thinks, as she finally succumbs to sleep, this is something she could get used to.

Kyoko falls asleep with a smile on her face.

* * *

Makoto wakes up with his head aching slightly. He blinks the sleep away from his eyes and gets his bearings.

His face is pressed into Kyoko’s jacket, and he carefully pulls away without disturbing her. She and Aoi are curled together, and it makes Makoto smile. On his other side is Byakuya, and Makoto starts at the realization that the other boy has his arms wrapped around him.

Byakuya is going to be really embarrassed when he wakes up, Makoto realizes. He’d been pretty wild the night before. Makoto has to keep himself from giggling, as he doesn’t want to wake any of the others.

He notices that there are blankets piled around and on top of them, so someone must have covered them. Probably Hiro, he figures, since the man isn’t present, and he finds it hard to believe that Toko would do something like this.

He hears the telltale sounds of someone in the kitchen, and Makoto carefully disentangles himself from the others to look for the source. Byakuya stirs as Makoto slips out of his arms, but thankfully remains asleep.

Makoto walks carefully into the tiny built in kitchen, and finds Hiro bustling around in an apron with his hair tied back, humming and dancing around the kitchen as he prepares breakfast. That isn’t a surprise, seeing as Hiro often makes breakfast. What is a surprise is Toko, who seems to be helping him, if a little less successfully. Makoto smiles.

“Morning, guys. That smells great,” He says. Hiro shoots him a wide grin, having heard him come in. Toko, on the other hand, jumps at his voice.

“Mornin’ Makoto! Hope you’re feeling alright,” Hiro greets. Toko nods.

“Yeah, g-good morning.”

Makoto smiles at them. “Yeah, I’m feeling alright. Do you guys need any help with breakfast?” He offers. Hiro shakes his head.

“Nah, we’ve got it covered. You can help yourself to some coffee, though,” He says. Makoto does, making sure to pour in several sugar and cream packets that were lying on the counter. The coffee is good, and he finds himself feeling more content than he has in a while.

“Thanks, guys. And thanks to whoever brought us all those blankets, too.”

Hiro grins. “Yeah, no problem! Kyoko asked me to, so thank her too once she’s up.”

“Will do.”

The kitchen is silent for a while longer, with only the sounds of cooking, Hiro’s humming, and Toko’s muttering to herself as she double checks ingredients filling the air.

Byakuya is the next to wake up, looking significantly more uncomfortable than Makoto had. As soon as he enters the kitchen, Hiro points wordlessly at a couple of pills and a glass of water on the counter. Byakuya takes them without a word before sitting down next to Makoto.

“Not a word,” He says firmly. Makoto raises his hands in mock surrender.

“I wasn’t going to say anything, don’t worry.”

Byakuya rolls his eyes, but Makoto is able to sense the fondness there. Yeah, in spite of himself, Byakuya’s shell is cracking. Makoto likes the glimpses he gets of the real Byakuya a lot more than he was expecting. Yeah, Byakuya was still a grumpy prick, but Makoto knew he cared a lot more than he let on. The other day, when he’d found the ingredients for Aoi’s donuts, had shown that.

Byakuya must notice him staring. “Stop it.”

“Stop what?”

“Giving me that look. It’s disgusting.”

“I don’t know what you mean, Byakuya.”

Byakuya scoffs. “Yes you do. It’s that ‘I know you’ look.”

“Well… I do?” Makoto tries. Byakuya rolls his eyes again.

“You keep telling yourself that.”

Still, Byakuya is the one to offer Makoto an extra sugar packet when he catches him looking at them. So, it counts for something.

Aoi and Kyoko come in together, sharing a look that Makoto can’t decipher before sitting next to him at the counter.

“Listen, Makoto,” Kyoko starts, “Aoi and I wanted to have a conversation with you after breakfast, if you’re feeling up to it.”

Makoto’s brow furrows. “Yeah, of course. Is something up?”

Aoi shakes her head vigorously and replies. “No, no! It’s nothing bad. Just something we wanted to ask you, okay?”

Makoto nods, feeling slightly more at ease. “Okay then. Sounds good.”

At that moment, Hiro spun around to face them. “Alright, people! Breakfast is served, thanks to yours truly, as well as the amazing Fukawa Toko!”

Toko looks embarrassed, but she’s smiling happily nonetheless. Byakuya, on the other hand, looks pained.

“Volume, Hagakure,” He says pointedly. Hiro looks apologetic.

“Sorry, man. Uh, anyway. I figured today we’d basically go all out, so… help yourself, yeah?” Hiro isn’t exaggerating. There’s a lot of food in front of them compared to their usual options. He helps himself to some breakfast, and it’s really good. Hiro, and Toko apparently, can really cook.

It’s nice, he thinks, sitting at the cramped counter and listening to the others talk and bicker. Byakuya scolds Hiro. Toko sticks her tongue out at something Hiro says. Aoi laughs at Toko’s jokes. Kyoko smiles at Aoi’s concentrated expressions as she eats a donut. Makoto takes Kyoko’s hand and smiles at her when she looks at him. Byakuya hands him a glass of water when he gets one for himself.

They care about each other.

They’ve been through hell together, and came out the other side hopeful. But more importantly, they came out together. Unified.

That day ends up being their last at the dojo. That evening, men in suits show up, talking about something called the Future Foundation. It’s another beginning, Makoto thinks. The start of another journey that will change them permanently.

Still, they’re stepping into this new adventure together. So, really, it can’t turn out that badly. No matter what, the six of them will always have each other. And that's enough for Makoto to feel safe as they take their first steps into a new future.

**Author's Note:**

> i hope you liked this!! i apologize for barely doing anything with jack dfaslkfjaa i literally. do not know how to write her. i hope this was good, though! please feel free to leave a kudos and/or comment and let me know what you think!! i'd appreciate it a ton.
> 
> also sdfajksdfjas u can probably tell i'm super biased and love aoi..... what can i say. she's babey.
> 
> anyway, take care of urselves, and have a great day!!


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